brown



No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

P. 0. BROWN. GAR COUPLING.

No. 519,300. 4 Patented May 1,1894.

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

P. 0. BROWN.

OAR GOUPLING.

No. 519,300. Patented May 1,1894.

catches of the couplings over on its pivot, if.

. UNTTE STATEs 1? rrrcn.

.ATENT CAR-COUPLING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 519,300, dated May 1, 1894. Application filed August 24, 1893. Serial No. 433.969. (No model.)

To whom it may concern:

1 3e it known that I, PHILIP 0. BROWN, a c tizen of the United States, residing in the city of Washington, District of Columbia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Car-Couplings, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in car couplings, and more particularly consists in improvements on the form of car coupling nvented by me and described and illustrated 1n the Letters Patent granted tome therefor, dated March 28,1893,No. 494,246. patent the two members of the coupling are shown as precisely alike in structure and in the manner of attachment to their respective cars, and have pivoted catches or retaining pieces which are reversible, end for end, on their pivots. Now in order to couple the cars by means of my coupling there described, it

is necessary that the pivoted retaining pieces of the two members should be in dissimilar positions in relation to their respective half couplings, that is to say, one of said retainlng pieces should be thrown over to the rear or toward the car, so as to provide a retaining lipfor the hooked entering end of the other retaining piece, which is thrown over on its pivot in the opposite direction, that is, away from the car on which it is secured, in which position its small or entering end projects outwardly from the drawhead and is adapted to enterand engage with the other member of the coupling. It was therefore necessary to pre-arrange the half-couplings in relation to each other so that the pivoted catch in one of them should point forwardly:

and in the other to the rear. This necessitated the attention of a switchman to provide for the half-couplings being in this necessary relation to each other by throwing one of the necessary.

Now the object of my present invention is to dispense with the services of the switchman in this respect, and to so improve my car coupling that the members thereof shall automatically engage with each other not only when one alone of said members has its entering end in proper position for coupling,

that is, projecting from the drawhead, but

In that when both members are so disposed at the same time. e v

With my improved form of coupling, the members of the coupling will always be in position tocouple without further-attention after uncoupling, if directions are given to the switchman to throw the catch completely over' on its pivot,when uncoupling,which indeed he would probably do without positive directions, the momentum of the catch when being swung upward to uncouple being generally sufficient to carry the catch over.

My invention also consists in the novel construction, combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter fully described and more particularly pointed out in the claims.

Referring to the drawings, Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 are vertical longitudinal central sections of my improved couplingin progressive stages of the operation of automatically reversing one of the catches thereof and coupling the cars, and Fig. 8 is a plan view of the coupling when so coupled.

In the following description, to designate the various parts of the right hand member of the coupling, the same figures will be used as for corresponding parts of the left: hand member, (precisely similar in every respect) but with primes attached to the figures.

1 designates the draw-bar, and 2 the drawhead open at the top and provided with sides 3 which converge at the back of the drawhead,-their rear ends being connected by a web 4 having a sloping upper surface 5. The sides 3 of the. draw-head are thickened at their front portions as shown at 6, Fig. 8, to permit of recesses 7 having semi'cylindrical bottoms 8 forming bearings for the hubs 9 of the catch 10 pivoted therein, the hubs being allowed slight lateralplay, as one-eighth of an inch, in said bearings. A bolt llpasses through a bolt-hole 12 in the catch, having similar slight play therein, and is passed fixedly through the side walls of the draw-head. Shoulders 13 are formed upon the innerwalls of the sides 3 of the draw-head upon the top of which shoulders the catch 10 can rest in the opened disposition of the coupling, the shoulders 13 thus limiting the downward swing of the catch 10. A web 14.- having an upper inclined surface connects the sides of between the cars.

the drawhead at its front lower portion, and serves to direct into its draw-head the advancing catch of the opposite draw-head.

Supposing the two 61 raw-heads to be approaching each other and to have arrived at the position shown in Fig. 1, the catch 10 being provided with a sharp front edge 15, the front edge-of one of the two catches as 10', whichever happens to be slightly above the other, will impinge upon the inclined surface 16 of the hook 17 of the other catch, whereby the catch 10 will be raised on its pivot, the under surface 18 of the catch 10' riding upon the upper surface and then upon the edge 19 of the hook, as shown in Fig. 2, until the surface 18' reaches the convex surface 20 as shown in Fig. 3, by the pressure of which the catch 10 is forced upwardly intothe position shown in Fig. 4 in which the surface 18 impinges against the lip 21. The pressure upon the catch 10 being now above its pivotal axis instead of below, as hitherto, throws the catch 10 upward into the position shown in Fig. 5 presenting the lip 21 at a greater inclination to the vertical, so that the surface 18 and the back 22' of the catch 10 ride upward on the lip 21 into the position shown in Fig. 6, where the pressure of the convex surface 20 upon the back 22' of the catch 10, being in a line passing above the axis of said catch 10 forces said catch completely over so that it falls into its position as shown in Fig. 7. At the same time the drawheads approaching each other until their front faces impinge one on the other, the hook 17 of the catch 10 passes behind the lip 21, and the cars are coupled, the parts beingin the position shown in Fig. 7 when there is a strain At each stage of the operation described above, the positive pressure of the engaging surfaces upon each other is greatly aided by the rotary momentum imparted to the pivoted catch. The Web 23 having the convex surface 20 is of less width than the catch where it is secured thereon as shown clearly in Fig. 8, and has a transverse perforation 24 to receive a short rod passed loosely therethrou gh but turned up at its ends to secure it in said perforation. By means of a chain attached to one end of said bar, the catch may be easily raised by a switchman from the side or top of the car, as will be readily understood, and the cars uncoupled.

It is to be observed that in my improved form of coupling, the lip 21 and the surface 25 of the hook are not parallel to each other and substantially at right angles to the catch as in my former patent, but both diverge from the normal to the catch. This assists in throwing over the catch when it arrives at the positions shown in Figs. 4 and 5, as is easily seen.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a car coupling, the combination, with a draw-head, of a catch pivoted thereon,having a hook at its long end a lip for engagement with such a hook at its short end, and a convex surface between the lip and hook forming, when said hook extends outwardly from the draw-head, an upwardly and rearwardly inclined surface for engaging and reversing the catch pivoted on the opposite drawhead, substantially as described.

2. In a car coupling, the combination, with a drawhead of a catch pivoted thereon, having a hook at its long end, and a lip for engagement with such a hook at its short end, said lip and the surface, adapted to engage therewith, of said hook extending divergently from said catch, substantially as described.

3. In a car coupling, the combination, with a draw-head, of a catch pivoted to swing longitudinally thereon, reversible end for end, projecting beyond the drawhead in one position, and having a hook at such projecting end, having on its upper side when so projecting a surface rising from the surface immediately behind said hook, substantially as described.

4. In a car coupling, the combination, with a draw-head, of a catch pivoted thereon, reversible end for end, the opposite ends on two such catches on opposite draw-heads engaging one another to couple the cars, and there being opposite surfaces .on two such catches which engage each other, as the draw-heads come together, to automatically reverse one of said catches, substantially as described.

5. In a car coupling, the combination, with a pair of draw-heads, of catches pivoted thereon to turn end for end about a transverse axis, each catch having an upper surface which co-operates with an under surface, on the other catch, both catches pointing outward from the drawheads forcing the latter catch over on its pivot, substantially as described.

6. In a car coupling, the combination, with a draw-head, of a catch pivoted about atransverse axis thereon, and a shoulder on a side wall of the draw-head having aforwardly and downwardly inclined upper face upon which the catch rests, substantially as described.

7. In a car coupling, the combination, with a draw-head, having recessed sides forming bearings, of a catch having hubs mounted in said bearings, and a bolt, passing through said catch and hubs and said sides, substanstantially as described.

PHILIP O. BROWN.- Witnesses:

FRANCIS M. WRIGHT, J. V. SUMAN.

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